Characters appearing in Roman's Empire.
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Roman and His Associates
Roman
Roman Torchwick
An up and coming mob boss in Vale. Find his tropes here. Neo
Neopolitan
Roman's personal assistant. Find her tropes here. Dwight
Dwight Golding
Roman's original partner. He met Roman while working with Kincaid and helped Roman get his criminal empire off the ground.Tropes:
- Affably Evil: No problem killing rivals when ordered to, but he's genuinely a nice guy compared to Roman. He even tries to keep Chloe safe when it's clear that torturing her won't get anything out of Roman, despite what Kincaid wants.
- Anti-Villain: He’s not really a bad guy (and much more morally sound than Roman).
- Bumbling Henchmen Duo: With Roman. They constantly bicker with each other even when they are out being enforcers for Kincaid.
- Co-Dragons: With Roman under Kincaid’s employ.
- Colourful Theme Naming: While his last name obviously has it, his first name loosely fits since it's basically "white" with a D in front of it.
- Didn't Think This Through: Roman pretty much lampshades this about his decision to rejoin Kincaid.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: He is abruptly killed by Kincaid in a fit of rage.
- Enemy Mine: He works with Kincaid to take down Roman.
- Et Tu, Brute?: He ends up betraying Roman when he finds out that his rise to power has upset Kincaid.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He is appropriately horrified when he realizes that Kincaid is really going to kill Reed’s family. He also is disturbed when Roman considers doing the same for the police commissioner. He also tries to keep Chloe alive since she was innocent when Kincaid would rather pointlessly kill her.
- The Fettered: He'll go to some pretty far lengths considering he is in organized crime, but he still has standards and won't compromise them under any circumstances.
- Moral Myopia: Roman calls him out for working with Kincaid. But Dwight notes that she knows Pragmatic Villainy better than Roman does. Roman only goes for power.
- Number Two: For Roman at the beginning of his career.
- Only Sane Man: Pretty much the only main character with enough of a conscience to know when things are messed up. He also has to deal with Roman’s ego.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: After betraying Roman, he’s killed by the very woman he teamed up with to betray him.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He decides to abandon Roman when he suggests killing someone’s family.
- Took a Level in Badass: It's a subtle one, but it is still very noticeable in his character development. Dwight was much more meek and timid at the beginning of Roman's Empire, but after spending years with Roman, he grows bolder more assertive. Dwight starts speaking his mind more and is more willing to call out Roman. Years of being in organized crime with Roman definitely helped him grow a spine. He even has the guts to both go back to Kincaid to defy Roman and to stand up to her when she tries to kill Chloe. It ultimately doesn't pan out for him, but hey. At least he made some improvements.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Roman calls him out on this when he sides with Kincaid.
- Villainous Friendship: He used to have this with Roman.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Roman notes that now that he’s betrayed him, there’s nothing stopping her from killing him since the only reason she cared about him was that he was associated with Roman.
Chloe
Chloe Torchwick (nee Price)
Roman's wife and financial manager.Tropes:
- Boom, Headshot!: How Kincaid kills her.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: She’s aware of her husband’s profession and what he does on a daily basis. But she’s still there. And she doesn’t seem to be too bothered by it.
- Cuteness Proximity: She thinks Neo is absolutely adorable and can’t help but pinch her cheeks whenever she sees her.
- Deadpan Snarker: The only aversion in the World of Snark that is the story Roman's Empire.
- Dropped a Bridge on Her: Chloe’s death is rather abrupt.
- Electric Torture: She was soaked and had her feet stuck in a small tub with a lightning Dust crystal.
- Hidden Depths: She’s good at accounting. And she’s aware of Roman’s Lack of Empathy. But she’s also very perceptive of noticing that Neo is an exception.
- I Have Your Wife: She is kidnapped by Kincaid to invoke this. Though Dwight correctly noted that it wouldn’t work on Roman.
- Shout-Out: She isn’t one. Even though her maiden name is the same as the character from Life Is Strange, that was not intended as the writer later admits.
- The Smart Gal: She handles the finances for Roman’s criminal enterprise.
- Trophy Wife: Roman initially marries her so he can have a queen for his empire.
- Undying Loyalty: But not blind loyalty. She’s still upset that Roman let her get tortured, but she wouldn’t divorce him.
Candice
Candice Torchwick
Roman's mother.Tropes:
- Good Parents: She’s such a nice person and cares for his son even though she’s aware of his profession.
- Locked Out of the Loop: She is unaware that Kincaid killed Roman’s father.
- Open-Minded Parent: She is proud of him for going so far up in the ranks of organized crime.
Other Characters
Kincaid
Violet Kincaid
Roman's old mob boss and mentor. She hired Roman after his father decided to leave the organized crime business.Tropes:
- Asshole Victim: Yeah. It’s probably a good thing that this woman got eviscerated by Neo.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: She definitely shows herself to be the strongest members of the crew when a mobster attempts to kill her at one of her own parties. She effortlessly takes on guys with guns and comes out without a scratch.
- Bad Boss: While she may act like a Benevolent Boss when interacting with underbosses, it’s all pragmatic. She’d rather be violently fighting them. Regular workers are more susceptible to her Bad Boss tendencies as Chapters 2 and 6 prove. The only low-level employees she treats well are Roman and Dwight. And even then, she just wants to get into Roman's pants and thinks she'll upset him if he goes after Dwight.
- Big Bad: Of Roman’s Empire. The end of Chapter 4 confirms her antagonism towards Roman.
- Blood Knight: She takes pride in fighting and says that she'd prefer a fight just before torturing Cordovan. She smiles when she has to kill some intruders during her party.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: She mentions that she would prefer Chloe to be bustier, implying a preference for busty ladies. She also has a nice rack herself (all natural as she points out) and likes showing it off. Especially for Roman.
- Card-Carrying Villain: She's a subtle example, but she is proud to be a mobster and doesn't even try to paint herself as the victim.
- Control Freak: Implied. She never likes having any threats to her power and will do anything to keep it. In Chapter 5 of Roman's Empire, the reason she goes after Roman for draining her profits even though she's still very wealthy. Her Villainous Breakdown is triggered by Roman and Neo escaping.
- Cool Old Lady: Can you really get much cooler than a badass mob boss who lives like a playboy? Roman definitely looked up to her. At least until she tries to punish him for infringing on her business.
- Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: She's a rich and successful mob boss who lives like a playboy. She hooks up with men and women left and right while enjoying dominating the underbosses under her control.
- Dark Action Girl: She’s not just the kind of mob boss to sit around and torture helpless people. She shows how well she can fight people during the party.
- Depraved Bisexual: Downplayed. She seems to have no sense of boundaries and will flirt with anyone, but her major sociopathic behaviors have nothing to do with her bisexuality. If anything, her moments of sexual harassment and promiscuity are her least harmful offenses.
- Dirty Old Woman: She’s in her fifties at the beginning of the story, but she is still a shameless pervert. Roman even says that she constantly sexually harasses wait-staff at her parties and is even seen doing this in Chapter 2. These tendencies haven’t stopped in her sixties as evidenced by her comments about Roman and Chloe.
- Evil Mentor: She was this to Roman. She taught him everything he knows.
- Evil Old Folks: After the Time Skip, Roman notes that she has to be at least 62. (The oldest she could be is about 67.) Even when she was in her fifties, Roman loved to poke fun at this."Pssh. I'm not that old."
- Evil Redhead: Roman mentions that she has red hair.
- Faux Affably Evil: She is incredibly charismatic and Roman even notes how good she is at not looking like “a greedy, violent sociopath.” Even When she’s mad at Roman for taking her business, she still has a sarcastic tone.
- Gayngster: An unapologetically bisexual mob boss who was even introduced flirting with a girl.
- The Hedonist: When she's not working, she's going out flirting with young and attractive people and hooking up with them. Even killing people is often for her pleasure.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: By Neo in the climax just before getting killed.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: She has a fondness for Roman and treats him nicely, but he sees right through it and knows it’s because she wants to get in his pants. She confirms this years later. She is also nice to Dwight, but it’s simply because he’s an associate of Roman’s, as he points out years later.
- Kick the Dog: Killing Chloe despite Dwight’s protests against it.
- Love Is a Weakness: She continually states how getting attached to people is what gets people caught.“Even if I did get hitched and they took my lover hostage, I’d go over there and shoot them myself. Much cheaper than divorce.”
- More Deadly Than the Male: The most powerful mob boss in Vale and most sadistic. Many of her male counterparts fear her. And the one to finally take her down is Neo.
- Mrs. Robinson: She frequently goes after people who are at least two decades younger than her. She regularly attempts to sleep with Roman, who is about thirty years younger.
- Ms. Fanservice: She’s busty, got some nice hips, a Supermodel Strut, wears outfits to accentuate it, and is unapologetically sexual.
- Oh, Crap!: When she’s about to be killed by Neo.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The biggest sign that Kincaid has officially lost it is when she kicks Roman directly in the face. Something she tried to avoid since she was attracted to him. After making a fool out of her after messing with her business, she really doesn't care anymore.
- Pragmatic Villainy: The reason she can’t indulge in her sadistic desires more often. She needs to keep peace and make sure everyone stays happy, so they don’t try to revolt against her.
- Proud Beauty: She's sexy and she knows it. It's rare to see her downplaying how attractive she is.
- Purple Is Powerful: She's the head of all organized crime in Vale, she can fight and kill three armed men at once, and her name is "Violet." She even wears a purple dress during her party where she beats up three armed men on her own. As Roman notes, purple is the color of royalty.
- The Queenpin: She is the head of all organized crime in Vale.
- Really Gets Around: Implied. She makes many comments alluding to her sexual conquests.
- Sadist: Whether she be fighting people, torturing them, or just causing emotional distress, Kincaid loves to cause pain.
- Self-Made Woman: She rose up the ranks of the organized crime scene in Vale all on her own by the time she was thirty.
- Silver Fox: Even in her sixties, she's still a bombshell. She has multiple fanservice tropes and Roman admits that she is still attractive.
- The Sociopath: Roman calls her a "greedy, violent sociopath" in Chapters 2 and 5. She is a textbook example of the trope, fitting every single point on the main trope page:
- Lack of Empathy and Devoid of Conscience: She’s willing to do anything including murder and torture to get ahead or for kicks. She’ll even torture other people’s loved ones.
- Consummate Liar and Manipulator: She has a lot of charisma and will use clever wording to make her selfish motives into something that looks like it will benefit others. She basically does this to Dwight since he kills Chloe against his wishes.
- Pathological Need for Stimulation: She enjoys being violent with people whether it be murder, torture, or brawling. She also spends her downtime flirting and having sex with attractive young men and women.
- Shallow Affect and Complete Lack of Emotional Reciprocity: While she does have a fondness for Roman, it is purely because of her sexual attraction to him (as he points out many times) and his usefulness to her. All her kindness is to make him sleep with her. And she throws it out the window when Roman screws up her business.
- Grandiose Sense of Self-Worth: She thinks she’s hot stuff and she certainly acts like it. She’ll take every moment to compliment herself. It crosses with Narcissist since she’s not happy about any threats to her power.
- Torture Technician: And she gets pretty creative, too. She uses a curling iron to burn Cordovan after he messes with her business. She also uses lightning Dust to perform Electric Torture on Chloe. She puts her bare feet in a tub of water with the Dust.
- Villainous Breakdown: She starts going through one when Roman and Neo escape. She drops all her charm and only has rage. She shoots Dwight in cold blood during a fit of rage, and even gives Roman a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown starting with kicking him in the face.
- Would Hurt a Child: She plans to kill Reed’s family, young daughters included. She also casually mentions the fact that she has killed several children.
- You Killed My Father: She killed Roman's father. The circumstances are not elaborated upon, but the trope is subverted since he has since accepted that's how things work in the mob. He harbors no ill-will towards her because of it.
Cordovan
Brick "Cord" Cordovan
One of Kincaid’s rival underbosses.Tropes:
- Cold-Blooded Torture: He’s the victim of this at the hands of Kincaid.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Implied at the hands of Kincaid.
- Dirty Coward: He tries to avoid paying tariffs to Kincaid, but the moment Roman and Dwight to come to confront him, he’s cowering in fear.
- Evil Old Folks: He's a mob boss and said to be an old man. This fact is mocked by Dwight, Roman, and Kincaid.
- Groin Attack: Kincaid drives her heel into his crotch.
- In-Series Nickname: He is sometimes called "Cord".
- Ironic Name: Roman notes how his first name is this.
- Killed Offscreen: Kincaid mentions that he died (read: she killed him) during the party in the second chapter.
- Two First Names: "Cordovan" can be a given name.
Reed
Russel Reed
One of the underbosses.Tropes:
- Alliterative Name
- Et Tu, Brute?: He tries to betray Kincaid.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He has a wife and daughters that Kincaid kills after killing him.
- Oh, Crap!: When he realizes he put his family in danger.
- Slashed Throat: How Kincaid kills him.
- Two First Names: "Reed" can be a given name.
"The Stace"
Stacy "the Stace" Greene
One of Roman’s rival mob bosses.Tropes:
- Arms Dealer: When Roman tries to sell arms, Stacy stops him and says that Roman is cutting into his business.
- Atrocious Alias: Everyone notes how stupid his self-proclaimed nickname is.
- Colourful Theme Naming: His last name fulfills it rather than his first name.
- Gender-Blender Name: Probably one reason he insists on a pseudonym.
- Laughably Evil: From his stupid nickname to his overconfidence. He’s not a villain that’s meant to be taken seriously.
- Oh, Crap!: When he sees Neo for the first time in action.
- Third-Person Person: He talks like this a lot using his ridiculous nickname.
Junior's Club
Junior and the Malachite Twins
General Tropes:
- The Cameo: They show up for a short time in the series.
Hei "Junior" Xiong
A local club-owner in Vale and associate of Roman.Tropes:
- Benevolent Boss: As much as he hates the incompetence of his men, he shows concern about Neo killing them so often. Even if it's just for pragmatic reasons (he needs them to work), it's more than Roman can say.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: He engages in this with Roman.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Outright calls his men idiots.
Melanie and Miltiades Malachite
Two associates of Junior.Tropes:
- Oh, Crap!: The mere mention of Neo causes this in them.
- One-Steve Limit: An accidental aversion. The writer hadn’t realized that there was a character named Melanie on the show already before naming Mercury’s mother. However, they don't meet each other anywhere in the series.
- Valley Girl: They still talk like this, as Roman notes.
